Editing Franklin Field (section)

===20th century===
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect [[Frank Miles Day|Frank Miles Day & Brother]] and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of {{USD|500000|1905}}. The field was {{convert|714|ft}} long and {{convert|443|ft}} wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nitzsche|first=George E.|title=University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Traditions, Buildings and Memorials|url=https://archive.org/details/universitypenns00nitzgoog|quote=Weightman Hall.|publisher=International Publishing Company|year=1918|location=Philadelphia|edition=Seventh |page=[https://archive.org/details/universitypenns00nitzgoog/page/n196 186]}}</ref>

In 1916, university officials, led by George Neitzche, planned with the city to build a new 100,000-seat half-sunken stadium for $750,000 at Woodland Ravine, a depression on the southeastern side of [[The Woodlands (Philadelphia)|Woodland Cemetery]]. Plans called for a new train station called Union Station which would feature a [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] stop and a stop on a proposed (and never built) elevated subway line connected to the [[Market–Frankford Line]]. Architecture firm Koronski & Cameron created a rendering but plans quickly collapsed. Five years later, it was decided instead to expand Franklin Field.<ref>{{cite news |title=99 Years Ago in Philadelphia: Middle of February, 1916|date=February 18, 2015|publisher=Philaphilia|url =http://philaphilia.blogspot.com/2015/02/99-years-ago-in-philadelphia-middle-of.html|access-date=March 11, 2015}}</ref>

====1922 rebuilding====
[[File:FranklinField1922.PNG|thumb|left|Workmen laying bricks on the south wall of Franklin Field, {{Circa|1922}}]]
[[File:Penn - Franklin Field - 1922.jpg|thumb|left|Franklin Field during a 1925 [[Penn Quakers football|Penn football]] game]] 
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built.<ref>{{cite news |title=PENN CANNOT BE HOST.; Changes at Franklin Field Bar Track for Intercollegiates.|date=January 8, 1922|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/08/107044252.pdf|page=120|access-date=April 17, 2009 }}</ref> The second tier was added in 1925, again designed by [[Charles Klauder|Day & Klauder]], when it became the second and the largest two-tiered stadium in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mary D. |last=McConaghy|author2=Michael T. Woods |title=Penn Sports in the 1800s: The Origins of Penn Athletics|year=2005|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]: University Archives and Records Center |url=http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/sports1800s.html|access-date=January 8, 2009}}</ref>

The stadium was designed of steel and concrete in the shape of a letter "U".<ref name="CDS" /> Initial cost was estimated around $725,000.<ref name="CDS" /> At the time of its construction, it was noted that Franklin Field was one of the few large fields which was built to support baseball as well as football and track sports.<ref name="CDS" /> Most other large stadia were meant only for football and track.<ref name="CDS">{{cite news |title=Franklin Field to Boast Splendid New Stadium |url=https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/?a=d&d=CDS19220505.2.26.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=February 17, 2024 |publisher=The Cornell Daily Sun |date=May 5, 1922 |page=3 |quote=Work Has Begun on $725,000 Concrete "U" -- To Hold 50,000 Spectators}}</ref>

The first football radio broadcast originated from Franklin Field in 1922, carried by Philadelphia station [[WTEL (AM)|WIP]]. This claim is pre-empted by an earlier live radio broadcast emanating from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, on October 8, 1921, a full year before Franklin Field's claim to fame. Harold W. Arlin announced the live broadcast of the Pitt-West Virginia football game on October 8, 1921, on radio station KDKA. The first commercial football television broadcast in 1939 also came from Franklin Field.<ref name=Eagles />

The [[1936 Democratic National Convention]] was concluded at Franklin Field, where President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] delivered his acceptance speech after being renominated for a second term.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Penn led the nation in attendance. The 65,000-seat stadium was expanded each fall with temporary stands to seat 78,000.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

The annual [[Cornell–Penn football rivalry|Thanksgiving Cornell–Penn game]], broadcast on national radio, attracted a reported 70,000 to the stadium in 1931.<ref name=1931Game /> The game earned a story on the front page of ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' along with a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of every detail of the game.<ref name="1931Game">{{cite news |date=November 27, 1931 |title=U. of P. Defeated by Cornell, 7-0, Before 70,000 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/58078749/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |pages=1, 22 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The 1947 game attracted a crowd estimated in contemporary reports at "about 80,000".<ref name="Inquirer-231189">{{cite news |last1=Juliano |first1=Joe |date=November 23, 1989 |title=Penn-Cornell recalls Thanksgivings of past |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-penn-cornell-r/162678919/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |pages=1-C, 16-C |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

By the start of the 21st Century, Franklin Field seated 52,958.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Franklin Field switched from natural grass to [[AstroTurf]] in [[1969 Philadelphia Eagles season|1969]] and became first [[National Football League|NFL]] stadium with artificial turf. (The [[1968 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers]] of the [[American Football League|AFL]] had moved into the [[Astrodome]] (with AstroTurf) the [[1968 Houston Oilers season|previous season]].) The stadium's fifth AstroTurf surface was installed in 1993, and the current Sprinturf field replaced it in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Gertner|title=Franklin Field features new turf, scoreboard|date=September 2, 2004|work=[[Daily Pennsylvanian]]|url=https://www.thedp.com/article/2004/09/franklin_field_features_new_turf_scoreboard|access-date=December 17, 2008}}</ref> Tenants since [[1958 Philadelphia Eagles season|1958]], the Eagles moved to [[Veterans Stadium]] in [[1971 Philadelphia Eagles season|1971]], also with artificial turf.

Franklin Field was considered a candidate to host games for the [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994 World Cup]]. [[FIFA]] required that host stadiums have natural grass. Had Philadelphia been selected and Franklin Field used, the stadium would have had to return to a grass surface,<ref>{{cite news |title=Franklin Field May Get Grass if Phila. Gets World Cup Soccer|date=July 15, 1989|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |page=D01}}</ref> or perhaps use a temporary grass field as was done at two World Cup sites—[[Giants Stadium]] in [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]], and the [[Pontiac Silverdome]] in [[Pontiac, Michigan]].